An Interview with Julie and Rita of Hearts of Gratutide

I first met Julie in a swap last year. She and I had a lot in common; knitters, mothers of small children and yoga teachers. We stayed in contact, and when I began Shivaya Naturals, Julie was a huge help and inspiration (and she continues to be to this day). Julie and her mother, Rita, have recently opened their own Etsy store called Hearts of Gratitude. The store features their handmade work in jewelry, stitch markers and some of the most beautiful wire work hearts you can find. When they first opened, I ordered the Abundance heart, and it hangs over our family bed and helps as a reminder of all that we need to be grateful for in our lives.

As a part of our Artists at Work series, Julie and Rita sat down to talk to us about their work, their intentions behind each piece, and where they see their company going in the future. I hope that you will enjoy this interview, and that you will visit their amazing online store.


What inspired you to create Hearts of Gratitude

Rita: from a very young age, rocks, stones and gems have drawn my interest. As a young child in San Diego , at a time when children were free to roam, I chanced across a group of college students conducting a dig in the foothills nearby my home. They had an area roped off, with little wooden stakes and thin white rope, designating their area. They were kind enough to entertain my daily questions over that summer, showing me how to identify different rocks and fossils, teaching me the care necessary to protect the finds, and introducing me to the concept that in many situations, there is more to an item than what meets the eye. They drew me in to the excitement of when they discovered a new fossil, and that pleasant memory has stayed with me all these years. I wanted to share with others the joy and comfort of having stones around and incorporated into their life.
Julie: My Mom was making these beautiful hearts and giving them away to everyone. People really loved them and I had just read about Etsy. Something clicked and I thought we should give it a try.

The pieces that you create are very powerful, and they each have a specific intention. Can you tell us about the process that you go through to create those intentions?

Rita: The information received as to each particular stone comes from many books in my library on the subject of stones, including the metaphysical aspect of stones. Each stone is reported by these sources to have many different aspects, so once a particular group of stones are chosen, they are held and whatever comes to mind for those particular stones or that particular heart or person, is written down. The particular aspects chosen are then thought of while working with those stones, and the intention is set for those aspects to be held strongly by those stones. After each heart is completed, it is placed in a room that has a continuous loop of high vibration music softly playing, with the intention that the stones pick up this vibration through resonance. Each heart is left in that room for at least a week, and for as long as until it leaves for its new home. Because of the joy received while working with stones and making the hearts, there is just alot of joy and happiness placed in each heart.
Julie: Rita and I get together once a week and mix and match stones, discuss their properties and just see what we like together. She really knows much more than I do, so I look to her for guidance on what works well. It's one of the things I look forward to each week.

You use very specific stones, can you tell us how you choose each stone for the pieces in your collection?

Rita: First of all, any stone that, while beautiful, just would not be appropriate, is shelved. The stones that are appropriate are then chosen for specific purposes based on the information learned by reading various books on the subject of stones. The intended purpose is thought about, and the appropriate stone comes to mind or to hand. Because this can be a long process, a written log evolved with specific stones to be used for specific purposes. This log is constantly changing, depending on the stones available, new stones discovered and sometimes just a nagging sensation that an addition is necessary for a particular heart or a particular condition.
Julie: I am not as knowledgeable as Rita about the stones properties, but I try to put the stones together in combinations that "feel right". Some days you can wear two stones together on a necklace and your whole energy level feels better. I try to find the combinations that do that.

Who is a part of Hearts of Gratitude, and what connects each of you?

Rita: Myself, my daughter, Julie, my daughter Kelly, my sister Mary, and my sister Lillian, all contribute to the hearts, either by physically making them, or by discovering and reporting on new stones and supplies, or by serving as inspiration. My sister Mary also gives out hearts as a part of her energetic practice.

Where do you see your collections going in the future?
Rita: We plan to keep it small. Because the making of the hearts is labor intensive, and because the making of each heart is the result of focused intention, our plans are to keep making the hearts one by one so long as they are made with joy, focus and intention for the particular purpose. Up until this point, profits have gone to the capture, neutering, re-releasing and caring for feral cat colonies in the countryside surrounding where my daughter, Julie, lives, and to the education fees for my other daughter, Kelly, who is an aspiring actress and junior at UCLA. Julie also finds good homes for the tamer of the kittens, as she can. I guess when we run out of cats to care for and Kelly finishes her education, we would scale back on production.
Julie: I would love to see this business grow and flourish. So many people really love the hearts and stitch markers, and I really enjoy creating them. I hope to continue to make them for a long time to come.

Do you have an all-time favorite piece that you have created?

Rita: The 4.0 heart (or scholar heart) is my favorite, and was originally made for Kelly and sent to her as a gift with the intention of help with finals. The stones used are among my favorite. Agate is just a good grounding stone, and is good for balance and enhances mental function. Chrysoberyl encourages concentration, discipline and attentiveness. Flourite (one of my favorite stones due to its feel and beauty) bestows interest, enhances the ability to learn and to rapidly grasp concepts, and labradorite helps with perseverance.
Julie: It sounds silly, but I love these very simple red coral and green turquoise earrings. They look very southwest to me, but somehow the combination of the two stones has the most amazing pull for me.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us, it was wonderful to hear your vision and intentions for your creations.

Rita and Julie: Thank you for having us.

Rita and Julie are currently holding an amazing Holiday sale. To see all of their creations, please visit Hearts of Gratitude and to follow Julie's work in knitting, jewelry and life as a mama and yogini, please visit her blog at Flexible Knits